Ashur-uballit appears to have died soon after this event.  He was succeeded by his son Bel-nirari, who carried on the policy of strengthening and extending the Assyrian empire.  For many years he maintained excellent relations with his kinsman Kurigalzu II, but ultimately they came into conflict apparently over disputed territory.  A sanguinary battle was fought, in which the Babylonians suffered heavily and were put to rout.  A treaty of peace was afterwards arranged, which secured for the Assyrians a further extension of their frontier “from the borders of Mitanni as far as Babylonia”.  The struggle of the future was to be for the possession of Mesopotamia, so as to secure control over the trade routes.

Thus Assyria rose from a petty state in a comparatively brief period to become the rival of Babylonia, at a time when Egypt at the beginning of its Nineteenth Dynasty was endeavouring to win back its lost empire in Syria, and the Hittite empire was being consolidated in the north.

CHAPTER XIII.

ASTROLOGY AND ASTRONOMY

  Culture and Superstition—­Primitive Star Myths—­Naturalism,
  Totemism, and Animism—­Stars as Ghosts of Men, Giants, and Wild
  Animals—­Gods as Constellations and Planets—­Babylonian and Egyptian
  Mysticism—­Osiris, Tammuz, and Merodach—­Ishtar and Isis as Bisexual
  Deities—­The Babylonian Planetary Deities—­Planets as Forms of
  Tammuz and Ghosts of Gods—­The Signs of the Zodiac—­The “Four
  Quarters”—­Cosmic Periods in Babylonia, India, Greece, and
  Ireland—­Babylonian System of Calculation—­Traced in Indian Yuga
  System—­Astrology—­Beliefs of the Masses—­Rise of
  Astronomy—­Conflicting Views of Authorities—­Greece and
  Babylonia—­Eclipses Foretold—­The Dial of Ahaz—­Omens of Heaven and
  Air—­Biblical References to Constellations—­The Past in the Present.

The empire builders of old who enriched themselves with the spoils of war and the tribute of subject States, not only satisfied personal ambition and afforded protection for industrious traders and workers, but also incidentally promoted culture and endowed research.  When a conqueror returned to his capital laden with treasure, he made generous gifts to the temples.  He believed that his successes were rewards for his piety, that his battles were won for him by his god or goddess of war.  It was necessary, therefore, that he should continue to find favour in the eyes of the deity who had been proved to be more powerful than the god of his enemies.  Besides, he had to make provision during his absence on long campaigns, or while absorbed in administrative work, for the constant performance of religious rites, so that the various deities of water, earth, weather, and corn might be sustained or propitiated with sacrificial offerings, or held in magical control by the performance of ceremonial rites.  Consequently an endowed priesthood became a necessity in all powerful and well-organized states.